Flexible working credited with employment boost

UK employment figures rose by 0.2 percentage points in the third quarter of 2013, according to official statistics.

At the end of July, there were 29.84 million people in employment aged 16 and over, up 80,000 from February to April 2013 and up 275,000 from a year earlier. Unemployment and inactivity rates also fell.

Tara Ricks, managing director of Randstad Financial and Professional, said credit should go to employers for creating part-time jobs. “Part-time work accounts for 88% of the increase in the number of women in employment since 2008,” she said.

“Employers have done a great job in helping more people get into work. They’re encouraging more flexible working, which has been particularly beneficial to women – there are 279,000 more women working part-time compared to five years ago.”

However, David Pardey, head of research and policy at the Institute of Leadership and Management, said the long-term trend of a rise in part-time working is almost entirely down to increasing uptake by men despite the fact that more women work part-time.

“The proportion of women working part-time has remained relatively constant during the last 25 years,” he said.